Staring Contest
by Pink Jewels
Summary: Wally and Artemis battle it out in a competition that tests wits, determination and concentration. After a fluke,  Artemis doesn't win that easily.  Wally stars thinking about what Artemis really means to him. Spitfire, mild swearing. One-shot!


**Hi Young Justice Fandom! This is Pink Jewels here! I'm new and have never written a story _and_ posted on Fanfiction. I've been reding Fanfics for the longest time, but was kinda nervous about letting other people, strangers really, read and review my work. I'm glad I started writing for fandoms and stuff, cause writing, for me, is like a stress reliever. It helps me, it really does.**

**So, well, enjoy the story! I had lotsa fun writing it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. Yup, keeping it short and sweet.**

Artemis and Wally clenched their fists simultaneously. Each glared at the other with such equal ferocity that the rest of the team could have sworn that they could have been mirror images if not for their different appearances. Well, duh. A guy, a girl. A ginger, a blonde. Please. A blind man could have told the difference.

A staring (or glaring, the team wasn't sure which edition the pair were playing) contest had never looked so… murderous.

"You ready to lose, Kid Idiot?

"Nah, I'd rather wait. Besides, didn't you know? It's impossible for the Wall-man to lose- even if I tried." Wally smirked and Artemis scowled. Well, deeper than before. Artemis was always scowling when Wally was around. As Wally sensed her disturbance, his smirk grew more profound, as did Artemis' glower.

He grinned as he edged closer to her. "I know you like me," He whispered teasingly. "I know you do!" Artemis nearly rolled her eyes at the librettos Wally had just uttered, but caught herself in time, resorting to looking at him unimpressed and feeling, quite frankly, freaked out that he actually knew the lyrics. With the singsong present in his voice, he continued, "You just can't admit it, 'cause we all know that you're afraid I'm too hot for you. Don't worry. I'll let you down gently." Artemis' right eye started twitching in an attempt to control her raging annoyance.

'An idiot and fifty bucks. An idiot, I will get fifty bucks.' She chanted it like a mantra inside her head. She pursed her lips as an epiphany struck her. Hello, Artemis!

Artemis cringed at her last phrase. The Mayans were right. The world _was _ending in 2012.

Anywho, she waited for the cherry on the top. The last straw. Thing only thing Wally knew would drive her over the edge into an insane rage of aggravation, where she would supposedly blink and rip him to pieces if a certain Atlantean didn't stop her first. Wait for it…

"But…" Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Maybe, if you deem yourself worthy I might just kiss you. Or not. Wouldn't wanna kiss a harpy, would I?" The boy let out an arrogant snort. "Bruce-freakin'-Wayne would give me his entire fortune to kiss hi- " he felt Robin's amused gaze falling on the side of his head. He backtracked and felt stupid just thinking over his previous statement.

"Uh, his um… daughter. If he ever has one! Or a ward something… A female one, I mean! I don't wanna kiss guy! Psh, no. For obvious reasons." Artemis raised her other eyebrow. Wally went back to his previous flirt-fest.

"So. Let's make a deal. You give up, and I'll consider ("Shouldn't take less than a second." he muttered to himself.) kissing you. M'kay? Fair deal? You do just that, and you can _try_ to appeal to me." Cue a kissy-face from everyone's favourite mini speedster, then… the cherry.

He winked.

"Ha! You blinked! You winked! Same difference! I win!" Artemis crowed smugly. The rest of the looked at Wally, seemingly pitiful, except for the baby bird who doubled over laughing.

Wally just stared blankly at Artemis in shock. He started stuttering in something that sounded like some strange foreign language. To M'gann, it sounded like something Martian. Thinking hard, she thought whatever Wally said, simplified, resembled something like, 'The cat in the gelatine has blown off the desert.' Either that, or, 'Many pianos have been burnt by a horse.' She honestly didn't know.

Wally's brain then decided to start using his vocal chords in an intelligible way. "That's not fair! She tricked me!"

Artemis snickered. "How, may I ask, did I ever do that?" Quite frankly, Wally had absolutely no idea. He just had to blame somebody. It was on impulse that whenever somebody well, defeated him in anyway, whether he was battling some corny super villain or getting beat to the ice cream truck by a six year-old, he always had to defend himself by insulting or blaming someone else. Usually Artemis, just because, well, she was Artemis. He never liked her, from the beginning. Or, so he thought.

Do you know how little kids, like nine year-olds always express their like for one of the opposite gender by just hating them? Or, pretending to hate them so that they can mask their true feelings of them 'like' liking the person? It was easier. Then they wouldn't suspect a thing. Until they discovered the universal theory that most kids used, then they would just keep dropping hints that they knew of your petty little crush. Making fun of you and telling other kids. Oh, the humiliation. This was kind of resembling Artemis and Wally's relationship. They both kept their relationship hateful, with a splash of care and sprinkling of flirtatiousness. Actually, to the rest of the team, it was like few dollops of flirting. Heck, even Kaldur was betting on their love life. Actually, the whole justice league was in on the betting.

Robin was very persuasive. And manipulating. Only a few vigilantes refused to believe in the Wally/Artemis pairing. Like, one third of them. Superman, Green Arrow, Red arrow and some other people. Robin wasn't sure. He just knew he was going to be rich. Even Green Arrow thought it might be, just a little teensy weensy itsy bitsy bit, possible for them to get together.

(So, according to Robin's calculations, if they got together by the end of this May, by means of realising their bond during some life-threatening situation, and ending that particular day with a surprise kiss and punch and a curse from Wally, he would be collecting about $1068.95 from everybody. Oh, and a dollar from Alfred. The old guy didn't like betting much, but the boy wonder made it sound so tempting.)

Wally stared after her as she was congratulated by all the other teammates surrounding her. He sighed. Maybe Black Canary was right. Maybe he was in denial. He cocked his head to the side and chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully. He _did_ feel a bit of… an indescribable feeling for her, after the 'exercise' that Wally preferred calling 'The Black Hole Where No One Has a Chance to Live and Has To Go Through Piles of Crap Before They Lose Everything' or 'The BHWNOHCLHTGTPCBTLE', which to anyone else, would be loving protectiveness. He would never admit it, but he actually found Artemis, dare he say it, hot. Her eyes were always a smouldering dark grey that made him shiver when he glared directly into them during one their daily fights. Her lips were full and pink, her complexion was flawless, and during a mission, her cheeks would be tainted pink and her lips parted and redder than usual. She had a perfect body, better than any of the cheerleaders at Keystone High. Way better. He enjoyed fighting with her, seeing her silky blonde hair (he knew that it smelled like jasmine, from the times she whipped her ponytail around) when she yelled at him with her infuriating voice. She was… she was a Spitfire. Wally stood bolt upright. That was what Kent Nelson was talking about? Really? Was it? Huh. It actually kind of made sense now. Honestly, he wouldn't mind, if only she didn't have to be so mean. Or cantankerous. Or a jar full of pretty bad words. Although at the same time, if Artemis was nice, that would plain freak him out. He didn't want either. He wanted something somewhere in the middle.

Wally sighed. He didn't like this, all these conflicting feelings and stuff. He wasn't born like this; to be all serious and romantic and loving. He was born a joker, a guy with no qualms in playing pranks on the Batman, and a player. He was a player who kissed girls and ran. Well, if he ever had the chance to actually, uh, engage in such an activity.

He knew something wasn't right with him. The world was gonna end. Mayans were right.

He needed to go for a run. Maybe the dryness of his eyes was making his head go wonky. Yeah, that was it! It was that entire stupid staring contest's fault. None of what he thought about the past three minutes meant anything to him. None of it was true. Yuck. Disgusting. Nope. He did not like Artemis in any way. He hated her.

Wally groaned in exasperation and dropped facedown onto the couch. Shit. He forgot.

He still had to pay her the damn fifty dollars.


End file.
